summers



(No Medal.) I

L. P. SUMMERS. ELECTRICAL DOOR OPENER.

No. 358,417. Patented Feb. 22, 1887.

N. Przns mmulhom her. wahinglun. u c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUCIUS P. SUMMERS, OF ORMOND, FLORIDA, ASSIGNOR TO 1?. & F.

CORBIN, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT.

E LECTRlCAL DOOR-OPENER.

EPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 358,417, dated February22, 1887.

. Application filed September 1, 1886. Serial N0. 212,432. (No model Toall whom it may concern.-

, tions.

Be it known that I, LUoiUs P. SUMMERS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ormond, in the county of. Volusia and State of Florida, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvementsin Electric Door-Openers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of dooropeners which are adapted tobe operated by electricity from the different floors of a building foropening the main door, and the objects of my improvement are to Simplifythe construction of the device and to improve its efficiency.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an elevation of my door-openeras viewed from the rear. Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof as viewed fromthe left-hand side of Fig. .1, a portion of the parts being broken awayin order to better show the construction of other por- Fig. 3 is atransverse section thereof on line 00 w of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is'a likesection of the same on the same line,with the parts in a differentposition.

is another partial section on line 2 z of Fig. 1.

In all of the figures except Fig. 4 the parts are in position forholding the door closed, while in Fig. 4 they are in the position whichthey have when the door is open.

A designates the main portion of the frame or case, and a theface-plate, which forms a part of said case. This case with the severalparts mounted thereon is designed to be secured to the door-jamb for'use in connection with an ordinary latch or lock for main doors.

The device is so placed upon the door that the ordinary latch-bolt maybe engaged with the keeper-slide B. This slide is mounted in suitableways or guides, 12, so as to slide obliquely, and is provided upon itsback side with a rack for engagement with the circular rack a, mountedupon shaft d. This shaft is set at an angle to both parts A a of thecase, the end bearing the rack 0 being the farthest from both plates. Atthe opposite end of the shaft d there is another circular rack, e, whichengages a rack upon the setting-slide 0, having an arm, 0,whichsetting-arm moves from front to rear. A spring, f, is coiled around theshaft d, with one end secured to said shaft,

Fig. 5 is a partial sec-' tion thereof on the liney y of Fig. 1; andFig. 6

while the other end bears upon a part of the case,whereby said springhas a constant tendencyto throw thekeeper-slide into the position shownin Fig. 4, and the setting-arm into the position indicated by brokenlines in Fig. 6. Thus it will be seen that the settingarm andkeeper-slide are so connected as to move together, and that they areboth simultaneously forced forward by the same spring. The shaft d isset at an angle to the plates in order to give the keeper-slide agreater movement than that'of the setting slide and arm, and the severalracks arebeveled to correspond with said angle.

To the heel of the keeper-slide B, I pivot one arm, 9, ofa toggle-lever,while the other arm, 72, of said toggleleveris pivoted to the caseinsuch a position that when the keeper-slide is pushed backward andoutward in position for bold ing the door the three pivots of thetoggle-lever may be brought nearly into alignment. Each of thetoggle-levers g h is provided'with short transverse arms near itsconnecting-pivot, in one of which arms is the adjusting-screw i, the endof which bears against the other short arm, whereby the toggle-lever maybe adjusted so as to stop it with the central pivot in any desiredposition with reference to the others, thereby regulating the powerrequired to deflect the toggle-arms out of their bracing position.

1) designates an electro-magnet of any ordinary construction, and E isthe armature, which is pivoted to the main portion of the case. Rigidlyconnected thereto, so as to swing therewith, isa tripping latch or hook,is. A light spring is employed for holding the armature away from themagnet. Upon one member of the toggle-arms there is a trip-pin, n, forengagement with the latch in, so that when the latch is engagedtherewith the togglearms are held in their straightened or bracingposition, as shown in all of the figures except Fig. 4.. Thesetoggle-arms and latch constitute a locking mechanism for holding thesliding keeper and connected partsagainst the power of the spring. Withthe parts in this position and the latch-bolt within the keeper slide B,the door cannot be opened without withdrawingthe latch-bolt. The latchwill ordinarily be so set that it cannot be operated from lines in Fig.6.

the outside of the door to withdraw it. The magnet is to be connected inany ordinary manner with a battery or other source for supplyingelectricity. Upon closing the circuit the armature E will be drawntoward the magnet, thereby releasing the latch 70 from the trip-pin a,which will permit the toggle-arms to be deflected, under the force ofthe spring f and the keeper-slide B, to move forward and inward towithdraw it from over the end of the latch'bolt, as shown in Fig. 4. Thesettingarm is also moved, under the influence of springf, into theposition indicated by broken The arm 0 of the setting-slide facesoutwardly and is designed to be engaged by a metal stud or projectionrigidly secured to the door, so that the movement of this arm in theforward direction will by engagement with said stud throw the doorslightly open. Upon closing the door this stud or projection will strikethe setting-arm 0 of the slide 0 and force the slide and arm backwardinto the position shown in full lines in Fig. 6, thereby at the sametime bringing the keeper-slide and toggle-arms into their formerposition, as shown in Fig. 3.

By making the keeper-slide move obliquely backward and inward inreleasing the latch there is less friction on this slide than in thecase of keeper-slides which withdraw from the latch-bolt by moving in aplane that is parallel to the face of the latch-bolt. By the employmentof the toggle-arms, which are practically straightened in holding thekeeper-slide in place, only a light pressure is exerted upon the latchwhich is moved by thearmature,and consequently but little force isrequired to trip said latch.

The pressure on the latch can be varied by means of the adj ustiug-screw1'. By connecting thekeeper-slide by means of racks with thespring-shaft d, I am enabled to use thesettingarm at the other end ofsaid shaft for the double purpose of setting the keeper-slide and forthrowing the door open when the keeperslide releases the latch-bolt.

I am aware that prior patents show various devices for opening doors bymeans of a magnet and swinging armature; that in some of them there isakeeper-slide,and in one of them there is a mechanism for setting saidslide by the act of shutting the door. Said prior art is herebydisclaimed.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a door-opener, the keeper-slide B,mounted to slide obliquely within the case or frame, in combination witha spring for forcing said keeper-slide forward and inward to disengagethe latch, and mechanism for lock ing the keeper-slide against the forceof said spring, substantially as described, and for the purposespecified.

2. In a door-opener, the combination of a keeper-slide, the shaft (1,racks for engaging said shaft and slide, the combined setting andthrowing arm operatively connected with said shaft, a spring forthrowing said parts in one direction, and locking mechanism for holdingsaid parts against the force of said spring,substantially as described,and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of the keeper-slide B, the toggle-arms g h, bearingtrip-pin a, the latch is, and a spring for forcing the keeperslidetoward the toggle'arms, substantially as described, and for the purposespecified.

4. The combination of the keeper-slide B, a spring for forcing saidslide in one direction, the toggle-arms 9/, having trip-pin 11. mountedthereon, and the short lateral arms near their con nectingpivot, the adjlisting-screw i, extending through one of said arms, and the latch k,

for holding the togglearmsin position to resist the force of the springupon the keeper-slide, substantially as described, and for the purposespecified.

5. The combination of the keeper-slide, a spring for forcing said slidein a direction to disengage it from the door-latch, the togglearmsg h,bearing trip-pin a, the latch k, for holding the toggle-arms in theirbracing position to resist the spring-pressu re on the keeper, and thearmature and magnet for tripping said latch, substantially as described,and for the purpose specified.

6. The combination of the slide B, having a rack thereon, the circularrack c engaging therewith, the oblique shaft d, on which said rack c ismounted, the circular rack 6, secured to the other end of said shaft,the setting and throwing slide 0, having a rack engaging with thecircular rack e, the springf, for partially rotating said shaft in onedirection, locking mechanism for holding said shaft and connected partsagainst the force ofthe spring,and the armature and magnet for releasingsaid locking mechanism,substantially as described, and for the purposespecified.

LUGIUS I. SUMMERS.

Witnesses:

J AMES SHEPARD, JOHN EDWARDS, Jr.

